April 26, 2011

Review: Van Houtte Raspberry Chocolate Truffle K-Cups

Van Houtte have been a Canadian grocery store staple when it came to whole bean & traditional grind coffee, but with the recent Green Mountain acquisition, they've literally exploded their available selections when it comes to the K-Cup format. One existing flavor that saw a resurgence in popularity lately would be the Van Houtte Raspberry Chocolate Truffle K-Cups. While we'll admit that this flavor has been around for a while, it recently saw some really nice new packaging & foil redesigns to further promote sales. We decided to giv'er a try and see what we've been missing.

Brewing Van Houtte Raspberry Chocolate Truffle K-Cups resulted in a HUGE burst of raspberry chocolate aroma even before we pressed the brew button! Whatever bit of air trapped in the K-Cup was released by the brew needle and the scent was so strong, we could smell it from that initial whiff. Hells yeah... this one's gonna be interesting! Sure enough, super strong aromas of ripe raspberries blended with milk chocolate quickly filled the room and had us hooked right off the bat. It was no surprise that several members of the Single Serve Coffee staff started appearing near the brewer only moments afterwards to see what yummy flavor we were making. Simply outstanding aroma here... Van Houtte completely NAILED IT. Bravo

Flavor was right on-par with the aroma. Lively bursts of raspberries in the foreground mingled with sweet chocolate in the background. We completely lost ourselves for a few moments and wished we could hug whichever master roaster came up with this flavor at the Van Houtte headquarters. This one was by far our favorite flavored Van Houtte K-Cup to date. Must resist... urge... to go through... entire box. We're pretty sure this would make for a good iced-coffee flavor as well if brewed on a small or regular size setting.

Billed as a light roast, body was slightly darker brown in color than expected, but that yielded the characteristic shades of red when held to a light source. Given that the target flavor here is made up of raspberries, that only added to the fun factor. Acidity was mild but blended well with the flavors and helped the seriously sweet notes to shine through in full force while still leaving faint sour notes on the finish. Mouth feel was smooth and well balanced. Not watery at all. Overall, just a really, really enjoyable cup.

Mouth Feel - 9 - Smooth & well balanced. Had it been just a smidge thicker, it would have earned a perfect score. We still loved how smooth this was nonetheless.

Coffee Drinker - Needless to say this one's aimed directly at flavored chocolate truffle aficionados. If you love sweet drinks, adore raspberries and simply can't do without a hit of chocolate, you are going to love, love, LOVE this K-Cup.

Overall Rating: 98 - Excellent

What can we say? The Van Houtte Raspberry Chocolate Truffle K-Cups simply BLEW OUR MINDS! We can't even recall the last time we popped a K-Cup and could smell the aroma BEFORE we even hit the brew button. It shocked all of us and our jaws collectively hit the floor when we smelled the final aroma & took our first sips. Everyone was speechless and stunned at how amazingly delicious this was. Just picture a Kashi Chocolate Raspberry Granola bar, but turned into a drink. That's the only way we can describe this. One thing's for sure, Van Houtte knocked this one not only out of the park, but we think the baseball has probably left our solar system by now. We'll soon be reviewing their new Butterscotch K-Cup, and if it's anything like this one, we are in for one hell of a delicious treat. Don't walk to the store to try these... run!

Jim: I purchased a opus coffee maker and liked the sample read moreStephanie: I would like to know why grocery stores do not read moreNancy: I want to buy this lid read moreXelleld: I don't think they sell it nationwide. It only seems read moreBatman: I agree! The Junior Mints K cup is the best read more